Area of Study / Keywords
Pedagogy
behavioral ecology
neurodegenerative disorders
cognitive aging
About
Although my initial work (for my MSc) was in oncology (breast cancer), I later fell in love with the field of neuroscience when I used a proteomic analysis to examine the innate immunity mechanisms within the nervous system of the medicinal leechduring my doctoral work. I obtained my MSc and my PhD from the University of Lille (France). My career then made me cross the Atlantic Ocean to conduct my postdoctoral research first at the University of Calgary then at the University of Alberta where I explored the mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative disorders such as HIV-associated dementia and Alzheimerès disease and underlying cognitive aging.
Having first taught during my PhD, I since diversified my pedagogical approaches teaching biology and psychology courses, in French and in English, at MacEwan University, in the department of Biological Sciences of the University of Alberta and, since 2010 (or 2011 full-time), at the Faculté Saint-Jean.
I am now a Teaching Professor at the Faculté Saint-Jean where I am lucky to share my passion for biology and psychology with our students through a wide range of courses.
Research
My research work is varied and is currently centered around 4 topics:
- Development of a serious game-based pedagogical tool for the teaching of anatomie. I am co-Principal Investigator on this project led by Dr. Martine Pellerin of the Faculté Saint-Jean in collaboration with Dr. Eleni Stroulia of the Department of Computing Science,
- Behavioral analysis of the leech in response to the pollution of the environment by the exploration of oil sands. I am currently developing this project based on interesting preliminary results,
- Genetics of cognitive aging. This work is done with Drs. Roger Dixon et Peggy McFall of the Department of Psychology of the University of Alberta,
- Molecular responses of astrocytesto Alzheimer-type insults. This work is done with Dr. Satyabrata Kar of the Centre for Prion and Protein Folding Diseases, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry of the University of Alberta.
Examples of published work
- Vergote D, Ogandaga M, Fernandez Cervantes V, Pierce G, Pellerin M & Stroulia E. (2021). Students Voice in the Design and Development of an Interactive and Bilingual 3D Platform for Guided Anatomy Learning. In T. Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 508-513). United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
- Pellerin M, Vergote D, Cervantes VF, Ogandaga M, DeJesus R, Stroulia E. (2020). Designing an online interactive and bilingual 3D learning environment for human anatomy education. In T. Bastiaens & G. Marks (Eds.), Proceedings of Innovate Learning Summit 2020 (pp. 581-590). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
- Chung J, Phukan G, Vergote D, Mohamed A, Maulik M, Andrew RJ, Thinakaran G, Posse de Chaves E, Kar S. Endosomal-lysosomal cholesterol sequestration by U18666A differentially regulates APP metabolism in normal and APP overexpressing cells. Mol Cell Biol. 2018 May 15:38(11), pii:e00529-17.
- DeCarlo CA, MacDonald SW, Vergote D, Jhamandas J, Westaway D, Dixon RA. Vascular health and genetic risk affect mild cognitive impairment status and 4-year stability: Evidence from the Victoria Longitudinal Study. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2016 Nov:71(6), 1004-1014.
- Sapkota S, Vergote D, Westaway D, Jhamandas J, Dixon RA. Synergistic associations of COMT and BDNF with executive function in aging are selective and modified by APOE. Neurobiol Aging 2015 Jan;36(1):249-56.
- Vardarajan B*, Vergote D*, Tissir F*, Logue M, Yang J, Daude N, Ando K, Rogaeva E, Lee J, Cheng R, Brion JP, Ghani M, Shi B, Baldwin CT, Kar S, Mayeux R, Fraser P, Goffinet AM, St George-Hyslop P, Farrer L, Westaway D. Role of p73 in Alzheimer disease: Lack of association in mouse models or in human cohorts. Mol Neurodegener 2013 Feb 15;8(1):10.
- Boidin-Wichlacz C, Vergote D, Slomianny C, Jouy N, Salzet M, Tasiemski A. Morphological and functional characterization of leech circulating blood cells: role in immunity and neural repair. Cell Mol Life Sci, 2012 May; 69(10): 1717-31.
- Vergote D, Butler GS, Ooms M, Cox JH, Silva C, Hollenberg MD, Jhamandas JH, Overall CM, Power C. Proteolytic processing of SDF-1 reveals a new receptor specificity mediating HIV-associated neurodegeneration. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2006 Dec 12; 103(50): 19182-7.
- Vergote D, Sautière PE, Vandenbulcke F, Vieau D, Mitta G, Macagno ER, Salzet M. Up-regulation of Neurohemerythrin expression in the central nervous system of the medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis, following septic injury. J Biol Chem, 2004 Oct 15; 279(42): 43828-37.
- Vergote D, Cren-Olive C, Chopin V, Toillon RA, Rolando C, Hondermarck H, Le Bourhis X. (-)-Epigallocatechin (EGC) of green tea induces apoptosis of human breast cancer cells but not of their normal counterparts. Breast Cancer Res Treat, 2002 Dec; 76(3): 195-201.
Book chapters
- Vergote D. Apprendre à faire face au VIH : les stratégies adoptées en Afrique du Sud. In: St-Amand J (ed) Amélioration de l’éducation en Afrique subsaharienne : Mieux répondre aux besoins des acteurs locaux, perspectives multidisciplinaires. Presses de L’Université Laval. 2020
- Vergote D, Overall CM and Power C. Chemokine proteolytic processing in HIV neuropathogenesis. In: Meucci O (ed) Chemokine receptors and NeuroAIDS: Beyond the co-receptor function and links to other neuropathies. Springer, New York. 2010
Teaching
Courses taught:
Faculté Saint-Jean:
- ANATE140: Anatomie humaine
- ANATE200: Morphologie humaine
- BIOCM200: Introduction à la biochimie
- BIOCM330: Acides nucléiques et biologie moléculaire
- BIOLE207 Génétique moléculaire et Hérédité
- BIOLE380: Analyse génétique des populations
- GENEQ270 (séminaires): Fondations de génétique moléculaire
- BIOLE107: Introduction à la biologie cellulaire
- BIOLE201: Biologie cellulaire des eucaryotes
- BIOLE108: Introduction à la diversité biologique
- BIOLE208: Principes en écologie
- MICRE133: Microbiologie médicale pour infirmières
- MICRE265: Microbiologie générale
- PSYCE104: Processus psychologiques de base
- PSYCE275: Cerveau et comportement
- PSYCE367: Perception
- PSYCE377: Neuropsychologie humaine
Department of Biological Sciences de l'Université de l'Alberta:
- BIOL495/595 puis BIOL310/510: Biology of Aging (Lecture invitée)
- MICRB265: General microbiology
MacEwan University:
- BIOL201: Eukaryotic Cellular Biology I
- BIOL205: Principles of Molecular Biology
- BIOL207: Mendelian Genetics
Université de Lille (France):
- Protéomique (laboratoires de 2e année de MSc)
- Biologie animale des invertébrés (laboratoires de 2e année de BSc)
- Immunologie (laboratoires de 1ère année de MSc)